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Motown/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. Tim and Moby are sitting in their attic. They are looking through a bunch of old vinyl record albums. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, these old albums are pretty cool. There's nothing like the sound of needle hitting vinyl. MOBY: Beep. Moby removes an album from its sleeve. He spins it on a finger. A needle springs from a finger of his other hand, and he places the needle on the spinning record. Loud, distorted sounds result. Moby frowns. TIM: That's what people say, anyway. A cat jumps from behind some boxes, meows, and runs away. Tim finds a sheet of paper between two of the record albums. He reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Our dad is always trying to get us to listen to Motown. Were they some band from, like, a million years ago? Curious, Sami and Lexi (New Lenox, Illinois). TIM: Motown isn't a band, guys. It's a record label that ruled the pop charts in the 1960s. An animation shows a Motown album, spinning on a turntable. TIM: Motown's music was a blend of different African-American music styles. An animation shows shoppers in a record store looking through albums of African American pop music. There is a section of records specifically labeled "Motown." It contains albums by the Jackson Five and Stevie Wonder. TIM: The label grew so influential that Motown came to be its own genre. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Motown squishes together the words Motor and Town. An animation shows the construction of the word Motown from the words Motor and Town. The word then appears on a record label, and the record starts to revolve. TIM: The label's hometown of Detroit was also home to America's auto industry. It had long been known as the Motor City. An animation shows a car driving past the Detroit skyline. A billboard reads: Welcome to Detroit, the Motor City. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In its first decade, Motown had more than 100 top-ten hits. That would be impressive for any new label. What makes this story truly amazing is that Motown's artists were almost entirely African-American. An animation shows Motown's offices. It is a busy place, with several young African-American employees and several gold records on the walls. An office door opens. Inside, an African-American executive sits at his desk studying a magazine. TIM: So were its producers, its staff, and its owner, Berry Gordy. Quite a feat, especially considering the time period. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In 1960, America was still a segregated society. Black people were kept apart from whites, in different schools and different neighborhoods. Side by side animations show an all-white classroom and an all-black classroom. TIM: In the South, Jim Crow laws made African Americans second-class citizens. In the North, informal rules were just as effective at keeping them down. An image shows a sign hanging in a laundromat's window that reads: We wash for white people only! The image zooms out to show a map of the United States. An inset image of the laundromat's sign points to the southern states, shaded orange. An inset image of a neighborhood divided by a wall points to the northern states, shaded in green. Large, nice-looking houses are on one side of the wall and small, dark houses are on the other side. TIM: This racist system extended to America's popular culture. MOBY: Beep. TIM: African Americans were largely absent from TV shows and movies. And in the music business, unwritten rules kept them off the pop charts. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Major labels would sign mainly white artists. An animation shows a white female artist, Norma Night, in a recording studio. Another animation shows a record titled "I'm Sorry" with a picture of Norma Night on its sleeve. A DJ in a radio station takes the record from the sleeve and plays it. TIM: Only their records would be played by big radio stations, and promoted on popular TV shows like Ed Sullivan. An animation shows Ed Sullivan introducing Norma Night on his show. TIM: As a result, those songs would top the pop music charts. An image shows a Billboard Hot100 music chart. Four of the top five artists are white. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Black artists recorded on smaller labels. There were a lot of different styles, but it was all lumped together as something called rhythm and blues. For most of these artists, the best they could hope for was some play on a local radio station. An animation shows a black, male artist performing on a stage. TIM: Occasionally, an R&B hit would catch on and make it onto the Hot 100. That's the chart that measures the popularity of all songs, from every genre. An animation shows a Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart and a Hot 100 chart, with one song in common, "Lonely Teardrops" by Jackie Wilson. TIM: This kind of crossover hit was rare. But in 1959, Berry Gordy saw an opportunity. MOBY: Beep. TIM: He had written a few R&B hits for local artists, but none had crossed over. Working on an auto assembly line, he had a vision, a factory that cranked out crossover hits like cars. An animation shows Berry Gordy working in a car factory, as a car is moved along an assembly line. A thought bubble appears above his head, showing musical groups being moved down a similar assembly line belt. TIM: With his own label, Gordy would turn the tables on the major studios. MOBY: Beep. TIM: He'd watched the big labels take R&B hits and re-record them with a white artist. They'd change the songs, giving them simpler rhythms and harmonies. An image shows the sleeve of the record "Hound Dog," by Big Mama Thornton. A white music producer hands it to Elvis Presley. An animation shows Elvis performing his own version of that song on a stage. TIM: These covers were often big hits on the Hot 100. An image shows Presley's version of "Hound Dog" at the number one position on the Hot 100 chart. TIM: The original artist got little of the recognition and profit. An animation shows Big Mama Thornton looking at the Hot 100 chart. She is frowning. TIM: Even more frustrating, pop acts would appropriate black music styles. They'd borrow elements from R&B, like distorted guitars, and use them in pop tunes with great success. An animation shows the music staffs of two songs: one labeled "Blues" and one labeled "Lonesome Cowboy." Notes from the "Lonesome Cowboy" staff travel to the "Blues" staff and carry one of its music notes back down to the "Lonesome Cowboy" staff. TIM: Now, Gordy saw a way to beat them at their own game. MOBY: Beep. TIM: If big labels could get rich using R&B sounds in pop songs, why couldn't he use pop sounds in R&B songs? And with his own company, the original artists could control the music and the money. MOBY: Beep. TIM: With a loan from his sisters, Gordy launched his new label in a small family home. He posted a banner across the front: Hitsville U.S.A. An animation shows Gordy standing in front of his new business. TIM: His plan was to transform local R& B acts into megastars. MOBY: Beep. TIM: The first band he signed was Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Gordy had written local hits for them before. Now, he focused on one principle, making a song that was easy to listen to. An animation shows Gordy with the band in a recording studio. TIM: That approach led to Motown's first smash hit. The Miracles' "Shop Around" sold over a million copies. An image shows the record sleeve for the song Tim describes. TIM: It reached number two on the Hot 100. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, not bad for an early try. Gordy wasted no time looking for Motown's next big hit. He scouted out music clubs for promising local talent. After signing with Motown, these bands would work with its production team to hone their sound. Animations show Gordy searching for talent in clubs and working with his bands in the Motown offices and studios. TIM: The producers would hand off songs to a department called Quality Control. An animation shows a producer giving recorded tapes to a female office worker. She is sitting beneath a sign that reads: Quality Control. TIM: Only the best tunes would make it to Gordy's desk for consideration. An animation shows Berry Gordy at his desk, listening to music with a tape recorder and headphones. He is smiling. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yep, just like an auto assembly line. But another crossover wasn't so easy to come by. After almost a year with no hits, Motown's finances were in trouble. Berry Gordy sits at his desk and holds his head in his hands, worried. A chart next to his desk shows profits falling. TIM: Finally, in 1961, a song by four high school girls landed on Gordy's desk. "Please, Mister Postman" by the Marvelettes hit number one on the Hot 100. An animation shows a woman walking into Berry Gordy's office holding a reel of musical tape. She holds it over her head as the reel is replaced with the record sleeve for the song. MOBY: Beep. TIM: From there, Gordy and his team refined the trademark Motown sound. Call and response vocals taken from church singing. Shimmering percussion pushed to the front of the mix. Horns and strings to fill out the sound. And lyrics with simple, stripped-down melodies. An animation shows several Motown musicians, male and female, playing together on a stage. Images of four stars appear on top of the image. Inside the stars are images of three women singing, a tambourine, a trumpet, and a man singing into a microphone. TIM: The result was infectious songs no one could replicate. Musicians from all over the world wanted to record in Detroit. They hoped some of that Motown magic would rub off. An image shows a group of white pop musicians. An animation shows a billboard that reads: Welcome to Detroit, home of Motown. TIM: Listen to just about any hit from the mid-1960s, and you can hear the influence. MOBY: Beep. TIM: For the first time in probably ever, musicians weren't limited by their color. By the mid-1960s, Motown acts were headlining huge shows. Bands like the Temptations, the Supremes, and the Four Tops were appearing on TV. An animation shows the front of a theater. A huge crowd stands at its doors. The theater's marquee reads: Miracles, Marvelettes, Sold Out. Another animation shows the bands Tim names, performing on television. Stax of Soul by Gary Wolk plays in the background. TIM: The label was making millions and employing hundreds of people. An animation shows expanded Motown offices, with many new departments and gold records on the walls. TIM: There was even a team in charge of its artists' image. Choreographing dance moves was just one part of it. An animation shows a door labeled: Artist Development. The door opens. Inside, a choreographer is helping a musician learn dance moves. TIM: Gordy also focused on how Motown artists looked, spoke, and acted. An animation shows an African-American female musician having her hair styled, as Gordy shows her dresses to choose from. Another animation shows the artist studying lines. A poster on the wall reads: Remember you 3 S's; Star! Smile! Strong! Another poster reads: Remember your ABCs…Always Be Charming! MOBY: Beep. TIM: He wanted them to convey sophistication and elegance at all times. MOBY: Beep. TIM: This was at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans were fighting for equality across the country. An animation shows images from the Civil Rights Movement, including protests and riots, on a television screen. TIM: Whether they liked it or not, Motown artists were representatives. Gordy wanted to be sure that they were putting out a positive image. An animation shows a female Motown artist on a television talk show. MOBY: Beep. TIM: There's no denying Motown's contributions to the movement. At shows, crowds that were once segregated now mixed. An animation shows an integrated dance club, with a Motown artist performing onstage. TIM: Black and white kids didn't just dance together. They started to hang out and become friends. That's why Gordy called his music "The sound of young America." It wasn't about color. It was about youth. An image shows a poster of Motown artist Marvin Gaye performing his hit "What's Going On." A white teenage boy has the poster on his bedroom wall as he listens to Motown music on his headphones. TIM: And the young people of the 1960s were ready for a change. MOBY: Beep. TIM: By the early '70s, Gordy became more interested in TV and movies. He oversaw the production of The Wiz, an all-black remake of The Wizard of Oz. Diana Ross plays Dorothy, and Michael Jackson is the Scarecrow. An animation shows a black Dorothy and a black Scarecrow dancing together on a Broadway stage. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yep. Jackson got his big break with Motown. So did Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and the Commodores. Images show album covers with each of the artists Tim mentions. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In the 1980s, Gordy sold Motown to a giant media corporation. The label's musical influence had declined, but its legacy is huge. It was a source of pride through some of the darkest struggles of the Civil Rights era. And it brought people together in a way that only music can. MOBY: Beep. Moby removes a disk from a Jackson Five album sleeve. He puts the disk on a record player and starts to play it. Tim grabs the needle from the record. TIM: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No way BrainPOP can afford the royalty fees on that one. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts